Objectives, learning outcomes, competences
European context
One of the key parts of any course guide is the breakdown of what students will learn – or learn to do – into objectives, learning outcomes and competences. However, although the Bologna Process and its framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education Area called for “generic descriptors for each cycle based on learning outcomes and competences” and higher education systems across Europe have become more comparable, there are still discrepancies in the way different institutions and countries interpret and use terms such as objectives, learning outcomes and competences. Hence, course guides of different universities may organise these concepts into one, two or even more sections.
Competences and learning outcomes
The concept of competences has became a focus within higher education in Spain at the initiation of the Bologna Process and the idea that education should lead to employability. Competences of various kinds (core, foundation, specific, …) were conceived as the cornerstone of academic organisation, with more specific learning outcomes defined in courses within these concepts. The Spanish system was at variance with trends in the rest of Europe, where observable learning outcomes were used as the main reference system of university courses. More recently, as we have seen, the Spanish system has started to be brought more into line with practice in other European countries. Now and for the foreseeable future the emphasis will be on measurable learning outcomes (for the whole degree course and for individual subjects), divided into three types: skills, competences and knowledge. Thus competences are now considered a kind of learning outcome, whereas previously in the Spanish education system they were considered to be at a higher level.